Anju, Culomba, Pamela Means, Sophie Wellington, and Zakiyyah Will Perform in Passim's Iguana Music Fund Showcase

Passim has announced a talented and diverse group of artists will take part in this year's Iguana Music Fund Showcase. Singer songwriters Anju, Pamela Means, Sophie Wellington, and Zakiyyah, as well as vocal ensemble Culomba will all take the stage April 10, 2023 at 7:00 PM. The show is part of Passim's monthly Discovery Series. Tickets are free and available online at Passim.org.

Each of the artists performing received an Iguana Fund Music Grant in December of 2022. Established in 2008 after an anonymous donor approached Passim with the idea to start a program to support local artists' career growth, the fund provides grants from $500 to $2,000 for musicians with a strong New England connection. Grants are allocated in the areas of recording or manufacturing assistance, publicity and marketing support, equipment and instruments, songwriting retreats, tour support, special projects and other specific activities that promote artists work and/or professional growth. Over the past decade, Passim has awarded more than $553,000 in grants, funding more than 325 projects. This year, Passim received more than 170 applications from across New England.

Anju is a singer, songwriter, producer, and performer shaped by the people and places in Minnesota and Massachusetts. Their music conjures imaginary lovers, scents of citrus, and visions of hairy brown skin under the sun. Anju was highlighted by NPR's All Songs Considered as an outstanding Tiny Desk Contest entrant. They are currently teaching piano, violin, and guitar to young musicians and working on their debut full-length album.

Culomba is a Western MA-based vocal ensemble specializing in close harmony singing from around the world. Culomba ("dove" in the Corsican language) draws from a deep well of repertoire, including American folk traditions, early European polyphony, music of Georgia, Corsica, the Balkans, Ukraine, Hungary, and original compositions. Culomba's singers have toured internationally, and studied with masters of these traditions, and bringing their eclectic specialties to this unique ensemble.

A multi-talented performer, singer, songwriter, composer and producer, Pamela Means's multiple honors include being named Falcon Ridge Folk Festival's "# 1 Most Wanted New Artist," "Wisconsin Folk Artist of the Year," "Wisconsin Female Vocalist of the Year," and her politically provocative album, Single Bullet Theory, was voted 2004's "Outmusic Outstanding New Recording." Pamela Means was twice voted "Best Acoustic Act" of the year in her hometown of Milwaukee, WI; and after setting up shop in the bustling 'burbs of Boston, Mass., Pamela was nominated for an "Outstanding Contemporary Folk Artist" Boston Music Award. Means's latest album, Precedent, elegantly addresses a range of themes from the state of the union to the state of the heart.

Sophie Wellington is a Boston-based musician who draws inspiration from old time fiddling, percussive dance, and jazz improvisation. Raised in Staunton, VA by concert pianist Lynne Mackey and old time musician and dance caller Bill Wellington, her childhood was steeped in shared music and movement. Contra dances, choirs, music festivals and camps shaped her curiosity and inspired her to pursue music professionally. In 2021, she earned her bachelor's degree from Berklee College of Music. She majored in Professional Music with concentrations in vocal jazz performance and the American Roots Music Program.

Zakiyyah is an artist-activist who utilizes music and visual media to explore themes that centralize marginalized communities via her production company, Black and Bold Productions. As an actress and classically-trained singer who is well-versed in Opera, Hip-Hop, Jazz, and R&B, she employs her extremely versatile skill-set to reach a broad range of audiences and craft a sound that is uniquely her own--including her most well-known, "Hip-Hopera". She's had the pleasure of bringing these sounds to numerous audiences from the House of Blues to more recently, the United Nations. After graduating from Wellesley College with a degree in Political Science and Sociology, she worked in politics for City Councilor Tito Jackson and later Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins. During her time there she created D.A.S.H. (Defensive Aids in Situations of Help); a women's self-defense program that travels throughout Boston and neighboring cities. She also serves as a trustee for the Free for All Concert Fund, an organization charged with providing the necessary funding to make classical music accessible to the masses. She shares this honor with former Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis, Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, and other dignitaries.

The Iguana Music Fund Showcase will take place at Club Passim Monday, April 10, 2023, at 7:00 PM. Doors will open at 6:00 PM. Tickets are free and available now at passim.org. Club Passim is located at 47 Palmer St., Cambridge MA 02138.

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